Chapter 9: Coping Mechanisms
I Don't Own Ben 10 or Any of the Respective Characters, The Rights Belong to Man of Action Studios and Cartoon Network
Author's Note:
* Hello and welcome to Chapter Nine of the reboot!
* So, this chapter may have a good amount of differences when compared to the original version. It also may end up being one of the shortest chapters that I will write for this reboot and that's just down to how badly the original version of Chapter 9 aged.
* I don't really have anything else to say in regards to this chapter, so let's get right into it!
Earth-Prime
Tuesday, May 29th, 2018
The Tennyson House
Ben
My dream that night was a confusing mess of shadowy images and unfamiliar locations. In my dream, I was lying down, while being carried on what might have been a stretcher. My vision was cutting in and out, and along with that, I couldn't tell exactly where I was. Wherever here was, it seemed to be a really big room, or even a big entry space, like a foyer or lobby.
As I was seemingly carried, my vision faded out again and the next time I could see, I saw what looked like a suit of armor, knight's armor. But it didn't look like any suit of knight's armor that I had ever seen before. It was stored inside of a rectangular glass case. The legs and boots, arms and gloves were black, while the forearms and head was light gray.
The face was golden and the body was brown, making it look like there was a tunic over the armor. Lastly, there was a bit of a crown structure on top of the helmet. Before I could make out anything else about the armor, my vision began to dim once more and I heard a voice, which faded in and out just like my vision, making it difficult to understand what was being said.
"He's... up... sedate... again..."
I was confused as to what I just heard, but I didn't have time to register it. Because after that, everything went black and I lost all my senses. No hearing, no sight, nothing. It was over just like that.
It was a dream similar to the one I had after I had been knocked out the other day. It felt real, but I can't remember much about it. It isn't real. If it had been real, I would remember more about it. So, it's not real, right?
I woke up the following morning a little earlier than I usually did. Instead of my alarm waking me, I woke up on my own. I sat up in my bed and looked at my phone, which told me that it was just after five a.m. I tried lying back down to sleep until my alarm would go off at eight o'clock, but with me constantly thinking about everything that had happened recently, sleep wasn't coming. I needed a way to blow off some steam, so that I wouldn't be pent up all day today.
I decided that I'd go to my clubhouse to relieve some of my stress and hopefully, I'd be able to make it back home before Gwen woke up. I got out of bed and got dressed in a white T-shirt and gym shorts, before forgetting to grab my phone on my way out. I did however grab my keys. I left the house, shutting the door behind me and locking it. I then walked to get my bike, which we kept in the shed, and then pedaled off into the early morning.
Sunday May 27th, 2018
Grandpa Max's House
"You mentioned that Animo was a biological terrorist." I said. "What does that mean?"
"It started back in the late seventies." Max replied. "A young man named Aloysius James Animo was put onto a scientific research team."
I leaned forward.
"Animo was a scientist? Well, I guess that makes sense, actually."
"Doctor Animo was on a research team, trying to rewrite the human genome. They were trying to make a serum that would create super soldiers Early into 1982, he was the first one to successfully create a serum. The rest of the team insisted that he hand it over so they could test it on lab rats, but, no. He had to test his serum on himself."
"What happened?"
"The serum made him stronger, faster, smarter. But it came with a cost. Animo quickly lost his sanity."
"That doesn't surprise me."
"It shouldn't. Anyway, his insanity made him easier to contain. So he was quickly put behind bars. The bars of the Null Void that is."
"What's the Null Void?"
Present Day – Sometime Later
Ben's Clubhouse
Once I left the house, I stopped by a gas station that was open twenty four hours a day and picked up a twelve pack of Coca-Cola. After that, I pedaled down to my clubhouse. Once I got in, I turned all of the lights in the place on and closed the door behind me, locking it. I'm glad I got into the clubhouse when I did, because it was beginning to rain and thunder outside.
I might've forgotten to mention that we also had a mini fridge, as well as all of the work out equipment in the clubhouse. I put the pack of Coke in there, opened it and grabbed one for myself, regardless of it being warm or not. I cracked it open while getting a cd case from off of my cd rack. My second favorite, right after the Beatles' Abbey Road.
My second favorite, which was in my hand, is Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits. I walked over to the CD player, while taking a drink from the can in my hand. I put the can down on the table where the CD player sat. I opened the case and put the cd into the player. After it loaded, the first song on the cd, Blitzkrieg Bop began to play and I turned the volume up.
I walked over to the punching bag, with my can of Coke in hand. I sat it down on a table near the punching bag and started throwing punches. I just really needed to destress after the last couple days.
Inadvertently burning down a building because of Animo (who was never reported, as far as I can tell), I'm seen as a public enemy and just when I thought things had gotten better, Vilgax attacked the water park and ruined our day.
And not to mention, Gwen was almost assaulted by a drunk yesterday. All she and I wanted out of these three weeks together was to catch up, make up for lost time. And that goal hasn't been made easy.
Thirty Minutes Later
After about four or five songs and one can of soda, I paused the music to go use the bathroom. After using the bathroom, I was standing at the sink to wash my hands. But I wasn't washing my hands. I was just standing there, staring into the mirror and gripping the sink so hard, that my knuckles turned white.
As I was staring into the mirror, there was a flash of lightning from outside the window which illuminated the dimly lit room. The flash lit up the mirror as well, showing me my reflection. Only, it wasn't my reflection. I was staring back at Ghostfreak, my least favorite alien! This reflection was only there for a split second, but I knew I hadn't imagined it. Whenever I shut my eyes, I could still see his glowing eye. Once the reflection passed and I could see my normal self again, I was left in confusion and fear.
What the hell? What's going on around here?
Author's Note:
* And that's it for this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed!
* What did you guys think of this one when compared to the original version? I know that it was a much shorter chapter than what you guys were used to, but I had to get one out, anyway. Plus, I had to stick to the events from the original chapter, trying not to stray too far from that norm. Give me any comments or questions that you may have in either a review or a private message, please. I am very curious on what you all are thinking in regards to this heavily edited version of Chapter Nine.
* Also, before we get to the Director's Commentary section, I have something that I want to say real quick. Any one who reads my other Ben 10 stories will know that it's been two months since I've last updated Volume Three of Bride to Be and Ultimate Alien, by other primary Ben 10 story. Fear not, I'm not giving up on those stories. Working on the reboot (as well as other stuff in my personal life) has taken up so much time, that I just haven't had the time to work on those other stories.
* Let me go over how it works real quick. First off, before a chapter can be typed out (even original chapters that weren't featured in the original Volume One), I have to write notes on it, deciding what should be altered, what should be cut and what should stay. This process can take multiple days at a time, which is entirely dependent on whatever else I have going on. And to make sure that I don't get ahead of the chapter notes, I take notes on two chapters for every chapter that is typed out, just to make sure that I hopefully stay ahead.
* It doesn't always work out, but so far, I'm quite ahead of the chapters that have been typed out/written. Once I get to a point where I decide that there isn't as much work required for this project, then I'll be able to get back to working on the other two Ben 10 stories. I hope that everyone who is a reader of those stories understands this.
* Anyway, that's going to do it for me. I'm going to go, so have a great day and bye.
Director's Commentary
* We don't have a lot to talk about in this installment of Director's Commentary, there's really only three things to touch on. To start, I want to shout out one of my viewers, Patjeeson. Pat, in your last review you mentioned that Ben should maybe have a dream that would allude to the events that went on while he was taken. I'm really glad that you brought this up, because I was able to utilize a planned scene from Chapter 7.5 that was left on the cutting room floor, simply because I forgot about it. It may not be what you had in mind, but this dream that Ben had at the beginning will play a bigger role in the future plot. So, thanks for the idea, man. Good on ya!
* The second point today is most of the scenes that were cut from the original version of Chapter Nine. At the very beginning of the original, following Ben kissing Gwen at the end of Chapter 8, Gwen rejects him and Ben decides to leave the house for the night out of anger. Seeing as I've pretty much cut all references to Gwen's obsessive crush on Alien Guy from the reboot (and because I think that it's too early for either character to have feelings for the other), there was no reason for this scene to stay. So, it was cut.
* And the last point today revolves around the ending to this chapter. If you read the original version of Volume One, then you may recall that the chapter ended with Ben seeing a negative reflection of himself in the mirror. This was an early tease to what would eventually become the character of Albedo. Since I've massively changed Albedo's origin in the reboot (I.E.: he's not spawned from the Omnitrix in this version), I changed this scene so that it was Ghostfreak's reflection that Ben saw. And seeing as Ghostfreak is a major villain, as well as a background player for the first half (give or take) of Volume One, I decided this change was justified. With that said, it's time to wrap this up. Thanks for reading.
Next Chapter: Ben continues to distress and he is gone for so long that Gwen comes looking for him. The growth of their relationship is once again halted a bit.